Managing Media Files Using Metadata Injection

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods to manage media files using metadata injection provide a mechanism to enhance user interaction with multimedia devices. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/177,105, filed Jul. 21, 2008, which claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/127,796 filed 14 May 2008, to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/127,813 filed 14 May 2008, to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/052,640 filed 12 May 2008, and to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/052,633 filed 12 May 2008,which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Access to information is an important factor in the activities ofindividuals in modern society. Improvements to the flow of informationenhance one's ability to interact with others, to respond to changingneeds, and to avail oneself of enjoyment from processing various mediabased information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of system for managing mediacontent, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an architecture for transferring mediacontent between media synchronization engines of a system and mobilewireless communications devices, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a processing module that providesfunctionality similar to that of the processing modules shown in FIG. 1,according to various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates features of a method that includes injecting metadataas files are transferred from one apparatus to another apparatus.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a stream builder to modify a metadatafile for transfer, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a media wireless sync featureinstalled on a PC with installation of an associated wireless server,according to various embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a non-limiting example of a userinterface showing connectivity, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of an example of a user interface whenaccessing a home music library, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of an example of viewing a medialibrary, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of an example of a user interface withrespect to adding music to the download manager, according to variousembodiments.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of an example of a user interface forviewing a download manager, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 12 depicts a diagram of an embodiment of a system having acontroller and a memory system, according to various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawingsthat show, by way of illustration, details and embodiments in which theinvention may be practiced. These embodiments are described insufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practiceembodiments of the present invention. Other embodiments may be utilizedand structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made withoutdeparting from the inventive subject matter. The various embodimentsdisclosed herein are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as someembodiments can be combined with one or more other embodiments to formnew embodiments. The following detailed description is, therefore, notto be taken in a limiting sense.

In various embodiments, media content is managed in a system. Systemsand methods for managing media content may be configured such that themanagement may be conducted with limited user interaction and, invarious embodiments, the system may perform essentially autonomously.Media is a form of general communication, information, or entertainment,which is typically intended to be used by a large audience, thought notlimited to a large audience. Various media may include, but are notlimited to, music, movies, music videos, television shows, interactiveapplications, audiobooks, podcasts, games, personal presentation, andother presentations. Each form of media may be referred to as mediacontent or media art. An individual item of such media may be referredto as media content or media art. Media content may include content inany media format. Some examples of content may include, but are notlimited to, audio files, video files, image files, and multimedia files.Audio file formats may include, but are not limited to, MP3, AIFF, WAV,MPEG-4, AAC, and Apple Lossless. Other example file formats for mediacontent include, but are not limited to, files having extensions doc,dot, wpd, txt, xls, pdf, ppt, jpg, jpeg, png, bmp, gif, html, htm, zip,tif, tiff, and wmf. Associated with a item of media art that is storedor processed on an apparatus is a media file, which when operated on byan associated playing device (player) provides an output that can bepresented as communication, information, entertainment, otherpresentations, or combinations thereof for the user.

Systems that manage media content may include various apparatus such ascomputer systems or other systems having hardware, software, and/orhardware and software to manage media content. In various embodiments, apersonal computer (PC) can be used to manage media content andassociated media files. A personal computer, as is generally known,herein refers to computing devices having an operating system (OS) suchthat use of the personal computer may be conducted by individuals havinglittle or no knowledge of the basics of the underlying hardware andsoftware that operate the PC and whose operation may be conductedwithout individuals typically authoring computer programs to operate thecomputer. Portable computers may include portable personal computers. Anexample of a portable PC is a laptop computer or notebook computer thattypically has a display screen, keyboard, underlying hardware andsoftware, and a display pointing device that are all integrated in ahousing that can easily be carried by an individual. Some personaldigital assistants (PDAs) may be viewed as a type of portable computer.In various embodiments, a PC may include instrumentality for managingmedia content and instrumentality to operate as a wireless server. Awireless server is a server configuration that communicates with anentity over a channel established by the entities in a wireless network.

Various instrumentalities can be realized in hardware implementations,software implementations, and combinations of hardware and softwareimplementations. Some portions of the instrumentalities may be describedin terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations ondata bits within a machine memory. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. Theinstrumentality may operate to process, compute, calculate, determine,display, and/or conduct other activities correlated to processes of amachine such as a computer system, or similar electronic computingdevice, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices. Theinstrumentality may provide personalized capabilities, provide a pathwayto other content, or combinations thereof. The instrumentality may usedistributed applications, different numbers and types of software basedcomponents that couple two or more applications to enable data transferbetween the applications, hardware to provide services from a number ofdifferent sources, and may be realized on a variety of platforms such asservers and content management systems. The instrumentality may includeor provide access to subroutine code, code libraries, applicationprogram interfaces such as interpreters utilizing Java EE™, SimpleDirectMedia Layer™ (SDL) and DirectX™, combinations thereof, or othersuch electronic based functionalities.

In various embodiments, a PC manages media content in relationship toone or more mobile devices. Each mobile device can play media files andcan interact with the PC with respect to the management of media contenton the respective mobile device. In various embodiments, the mobiledevices include instrumentalities similar to those of the PC to managethe media content on the mobile device, to browse media files in one ormore PCs, and to engage with a PC in interactive management of mediacontent on the mobile device, on the PC, and on other mobile devices inwhich the media content may be shared. Other apparatus configured withhardware, software, and/or hardware and software to function in asimilar manner as the PC to manage media content may be used inconjunction with the mobile devices. The mobile devices may be a mobilewireless communications devices. The mobile wireless communicationsdevices may include, but are not limited to, mobile telephones, portablecomputers, PDAs, and other devices that may be conveniently carried by auser and provide wireless communication. Mobile telephones includewireless communication devices that have generally been referred to ascell phones. Mobile telephones may include a wide range of communicationdevices from portable phones with limited functionality beyond voicecommunication to portable phones capable of providing the functionalityof a personal computer.

In an embodiment, a system organizes information associated with mediacontent from multiple media sources into a single unified library file.The information may be organized as indexed information. Managing mediacontent is not limited to a single library file. In various embodiments,more than one library file may be utilized. Access to a library file canbe provided to a number of mobile devices. The access may be provided asfull access or limited access. For example, access to a library file bya mobile device may be limited to a mobile device based on whether themobile device has one or more media players to operate on the mediacontent. Other criteria may be used to limit access to a mobile device.In various embodiments, the library file is maintained on the system andis accessed from the mobile device remotely. In various embodiments, alibrary file or a modified version of a library file can be transferredto the mobile device and the mobile device can access the library filelocally. The library file can be used by the mobile device to transfermedia content from one or more media sources to the mobile device. Themobile device may have wireless capabilities. The mobile device may be amobile wireless communication device.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of system 100 for managing mediacontent. System 100 includes inputs 112, processing modules 114, andoutputs 116. Inputs 112 include one or more media sources 120 of mediacontent (also herein referred to as “media sources,” “media source,”“sources,” or “source”). Media content may include content in any mediaformat. Some examples of content may include, but are not limited to,audio files, video files, image files, and multimedia files. Audio fileformats may include, but are not limited to, MP3, AIFF, WAV, MPEG-4,AAC, and Apple Lossless. Other example file formats for media contentinclude, but are not limited to, files having extensions doc, dot, wpd,txt, xls, pdf, ppt, jpg, jpeg, png, bmp, gif, html, htm, zip, tif, tiff,and wmf.

Media sources 112 may include media libraries 120-1 for media playerssuch as, but not limited to, libraries for iTunes® audio players,Windows Media Player® (WMP), RealPlayer®, and other players. Eachlibrary may include collections of various media content. A collectionis a subset of the files in a library. The collections may includereferences to the files. Each collection may refer to anywhere from zerofiles to all of the files in the library. An example of a collection ofa music library is a playlist. In various embodiments, sources 112 ofmedia content may be files within one or more folders 120-2 on a singlecomputer system or on multiple computer systems.

Processing modules 114 include software and/or hardware to transfermedia content from media sources to devices that use the associatedmedia. Processing modules include instrumentality to operate as a“connector,” which means that the processing modules interface withmedia sources to collect information associated with a media fileconfigured to operate with a specific media player. Processing modulesmay be arranged with a set of connectors, one for each type of mediaplayer incorporated in system 100 or used by mobile devices whose mediacontent is managed by system 100. Processing modules 114 may includeconnectors to interact with mobile wireless communication devices, wherethe mobile wireless communication devices are a source of media content.Processing modules 114 may use, but are not limited to, a Windows COMinterface or a XML file when connecting to various media sources. Inaddition, processing modules 114 may create a representation (forexample, a library or libraries of information regarding the mediacontent) of the media content available from multiple media sources. Invarious embodiments, media content may include information with respectto another media file that is played by a media player. For instance, ajpeg (Joint Photographic Experts Group) file may be a file of album artfor songs on an album, where the media files of the songs are played ona media player.

In various embodiments, output 116 from processing modules 114 is arepresentation created by processing modules 114. The representation mayalso be maintained by processing modules 114. Output 116 may includedevice specific data for a mobile wireless communication device or amedia player. Output 116 may comprise metadata, such as metadata basedon user preferences or device settings. Generally, metadata isinformation about data. Various media content may be metadata withrespect to other media content. For example, a file having a jpg fileformat may provide information regarding an audio file having a mp3 fileformat such that the jpg file is metadata for the mp3 file.

In an example embodiment, the representation may be any means foridentifying the content of the media source files. In some embodiments,a library file 116 created by processing modules 114 contains metadatafor the media content available in the one or more media sources 120-1 .. . 120-N, but omits the actual media content. Library file 116 may beorganized using a standard format that represents the informationcontained in the media sources. In various embodiments, the standardformat is a compressed format and/or a format that is substantiallysmaller than the media library itself. For example, a media library with30 GB of audio files may be presented by processing modules 114 in afile that may be 200 KB.

In operation, system 100 for managing media content shown in FIG. 1creates a representation of the media content available in one or moremedia sources 120-1 . . . 120-N and provides a means for accessing themedia content by any device with a media player including a mobilewireless communications device. The device may browse the representationand may select individual media content items to copy or transfer fromthe media source to the device. After selection, all or a portion of themedia content item maybe transferred to the device and may be played ona media player on the device. In various embodiments, system 100 bringscontent from multiple media sources into a single unified library 116and pushes out device specific metadata from the single library to thespecific device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an architecture for transferring mediacontent between media synchronization engines 214-1 . . . 214-M of asystem 200 and mobile wireless communications devices 210-1 . . . 210-N.The media content can be provided from media sources 220-1 . . . 220-R.Media sources 220-1 . . . 220-R can reside on system 200. The mediacontent in media sources 220-1 . . . 220-R may be provided from varioussources external to system 200. For instance, media sources 220-1 . . .220-R can be media libraries resident on system 200 that are created aslibraries to store media files provided by media stores accessed on theInternet. Media sources 220-1 . . . 220-R may contain media files loadedin the system by a user from a portable storage medium such as, but notlimited to, a CD or a DVD. Mobile wireless communications devices 210-1. . . 210-N may also be media sources. Media synchronization engines214-1 . . . 214-M (also referred to as a media sync engines or a mediasync applications) that operate in the transferal of a media file mayalso operate to manage a media library and a metadata library fileassociated with the media file. The media file can be operated on by amedia player to provide the media content for visual and/or audiopresentation to a user of system 200 or one or more of mobile wirelesscommunications devices 210-1 . . . 210-N.

Media sync engines 214-1 . . . 214-M can create representations (such asa library file or files) identifying media content available frommultiple media sources and provide data from the library to mobilewireless communications devices 210-1 . . . 210-N. In an embodiment, amedia sync engine is an example of the processing modules shown inFIG. 1. In various embodiments, a media sync engine provides a method tosynchronize a media library such as an iTunes® digital music librarywith a smartphone such as a BlackBerry brand smart phone. The files maybe transferred using a wireless connection or a wired connection such asa high speed USB 2.0 connection.

Mobile wireless communications devices 210 may include, but are notlimited to, mobile telephones, portable computers, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), media players and other devices that may beconveniently carried by a user and provide wireless communication.Mobile telephones include wireless communication devices that havegenerally been referred to as cell phones. Mobile telephones may includea wide range of communication devices from portable phones with limitedfunctionality beyond voice communication to portable phones capable ofproviding the functionality of a personal computer. Multiple devices ofdifferent types/capabilities may transfer media content using one ormore media sync engines.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a processing module 314 thatprovides at least the functionality of the processing modules shown inFIG. 1 according to an example embodiment. Processing module 314 mayreside on a PC that interacts with one or more mobile devices.Processing module 314 includes a sync module 303, a cache manager 307, afinder 309, and one or more connectors 311. Sync module 303 includesinstrumentality to conduct synchronization operations with the mobiledevices, where the operations include adding media files to and removingmedia files from the mobile devices. Sync module 303 can interact with amobile device to determine its identity and acquire information on theavailability of allocated media storage on the mobile device. Syncmodule 303 is configured to operate with a user interface (UI) 313 ofthe PC.

Connectors 311 identify specific instances of a particular type oflibrary on the PC or mobile device. In other words, connectors 311perform a discovery function that finds individual libraries. Aconnector for a particular library is capable of communicating with aparticular library or file using a corresponding application programminginterface (API), protocols, file formats, etc. When an individuallibrary is discovered, the connector can retrieve media collections fromthat instance of the individual library. Connectors 311 may include aniTunes connector, a WMP connector, a RealPlayer connector, and variousother connectors correlated to instrumentality for operating on therespective media files to provide a presentation to the PC user. Anindividual connector may be configured as a combination of a read onlyconnector and a writeable connector. A writeable connector may performsuch activities as adding a user-assigned rating for a song, creating aplaylist, editing a playlist, deleting a song, etc.

Finder 309 provides a discovery mechanism for connectors. Finder 309 mayidentify what connectors 311 are available for processing. The availableconnectors may register with finder 309. If a separate connector is usedfor each type of library, the particular connectors that are discoveredby finder 309 can determine what type of libraries are in the system inwhich processing modules 314 operate.

Cache manager 307 may also determine which of the available connector(s)to use. For example, if a collection of media content may be accessedeither by using iTunes software or through an iTunes xml file, cachemanager 307 can determine whether to use the iTunes applicationconnector or the iTunes xml file connector in order to access the iTunescollection. Cache manager 307 may provide a unified interface tomultiple sources/libraries. Cache manager may maintain a buffer thatunifies files from different libraries. For example, if the same musictrack is present in multiple libraries (e.g., in a user's iTunes libraryand in the user's Windows Media Player library), the cache manager maymaintain a single buffer that is an aggregation of the tracks from thedifferent libraries. Alternatively, cache manager 307 may maintain aseparate buffer for each of the different libraries. Cache manager 307may implement the buffer using any form of data storage. In variousembodiments, the data storage may either be persistent ornon-persistent.

In various embodiments, cache manager 307 may implement connectorwatchers. A connector watcher monitors one or more collections anddetermines when a collection has changed. For example, if an iTunes xmlfile changes or if the iTunes library has been updated, cache manager307, which monitors that particular collection, detects the update andreads the changes into an appropriate buffer. Cache manager 307 may alsodetermine when to update the device library.

Embodiments, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, and similar embodiments may beimplemented as a desktop application to transfer media content frommultiple sources to a mobile wireless device. The desktop applicationfor managing media content may be launched on a PC. The desktopapplication may be automatically launched on startup of the PC. Thedesktop application may be launched on detection of a device connectionto the PC. In various embodiments, a user may launch the desktopapplication. Alternatively, embodiments, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3,and similar embodiments may be implemented to allow a mobile wirelessdevice to update content already present on the mobile wireless devicewith media content from multiple sources.

In various embodiments, a system managing media content can bestructured to operate provide a number of different features. Contentfrom multiple media sources may be entered into a single unified libraryand device specific metadata pushed out from the single library. Alibrary file in a format to provide a compact representation of mediametadata may be generated as output of processing modules, similar toprocessing modules discussed with respect to FIGS. 1-3. Varying schemacan be used for choices to select, group, and rearrange data in therepresentation in the file format. Various features of a managing systemmay include maintaining representations of original sourceidentifications so that an identifier such as an ID, a path, etc. may beused to track/manage information regarding different multiple sources ofsubstantially the same media content. Various features of a managingsystem may include injecting or modifying metadata for a media fileduring transfer to a device. Examples of injected metadata may includealbum art, volume settings and other device settings, user preferences,and other parameters.

Management of media content on a mobile device may be realized throughinteraction with a media sync engine of one or more apparatus, such asmultiple PCs. The mobile device, such as a mobile wireless communicationdevice, through such interaction acquires information regarding theavailability of media files on each PC and an identity of the PC thatwas the source of media content existing on the mobile device.

Various features of the managing system may include a simplified userinterface (UI) on the PC for transferring information to the mobiledevice and representing information that is present on the mobiledevice. The UI may generate representations to provide criteria forhandling user selection of media content that exceeds device capacity.In various embodiments, applications in the PC may use the informationin the library of the PC to autonomously handle user selection of mediacontent that exceeds device capacity. The UI can provide an automaticfill function for a user to select such that the PC automaticallyhandles selection of media content to transfer to the mobile device. Inthe various embodiments, a mobile device may be a mobile wirelesscommunication device. A mobile wireless communication device may includeinstrumentality to manage media content in substantially the same manneras a PC.

FIG. 4 illustrates features of a method that includes injecting metadataas files are transferred from one apparatus to another apparatus. At410, a metadata file having information regarding one or more filesidentified for transfer to a device is acquired. The metadata file maybe transferred in a common transfer process with the media filesidentified for transfer to the device. The files may be media files suchas, but not limited to, video files, audio files, picture files, andmultimedia files. The metadata file may be a metadata library fileproviding substantially all the metadata associated with a given mediafile. The metadata library file may be configured as a single unifiedlibrary of metadata for all media files of an apparatus such as apersonal computer. Alternatively, the apparatus may have a number ofcomprehensive metadata library files, one associated with each differentmedia library such as a music library, a video library, a multimedialibrary, a picture library. In addition, a metadata file may be arrangedas a metadata file containing a subset of information of a medialibrary, where the subset of information is determined based on thefiles identified for transfer to a device. Metadata library files mayreside and be used on mobile devices that operate on the files havinginformation in the metadata library. The operation by the device mayinclude playing music, videos, and/or displaying pictures. The mobiledevices may have a number of different media players to operate ondifferent media files. These media players may be realized as acombination of hardware and software.

For example, a mobile wireless communication device that plays music mayhave a metadata file associated with all the music files stored on thedevice. The mobile wireless communication device that plays music mayhave a metadata file associated with a playlist of music files stored onthe device. The mobile wireless communication device may have a metadatafile associated with all the music files stored on a PC that the mobilewireless communication device may access to download music files to themobile wireless communication device. In addition, the mobile wirelesscommunication device may include multiple media players. The multiplemedia players may include multiple players for a single type of mediasuch as multiple players that provide music.

At 420, metadata in the metadata file is modified during transfer of themetadata file to the destination, such that the file on the destinationis different from the source by having different or additional metadata,without any intermediary or temporary file having been created. Invarious embodiments, a media metadata file is modified during transferof the media metadata file to the device. The media metadata file may bea media metadata library file. For all types of media files, metadatamay be modified according to injection policy parameters and/or usersettings associated with one or more music media files, the device towhich files are to be transferred, and/or the user of the device. Invarious embodiments, a music media file metadata may be modified byinjecting album art associated with the music file. In variousembodiments, volume settings for a music file may be injected into themetadata library file whereby the volume settings may be different fordifferent music files. In various embodiments, metadata in the metadatalibrary file may be modified by injecting playing limitations orselection likelihoods associated with the music media files, such as butnot limited to content based limitations relative to age. In variousembodiments, video media files metadata may be modified by injectingviewing limitations associated with the video media files, such as butnot limited to content based limitations relative to age. In variousembodiments, the metadata of the media files may be modified byinjecting artifacts indicative of the source of the transfer.

In various embodiments, injection of metadata into a media metadata filemay occur during a transfer of media files from a PC to a wirelesscommunication device during a media synchronization process. Theinjection of the metadata may include adding new metadata to a metadatafile or replacing metadata in a file with other metadata. When replacingthe metadata in a file with other metadata, an application running onthe PC can make a determination that there is a segment of storedmetadata accessible by the PC that is more relevant to the media filebeing transferred than a corresponding segment currently in the metadatafile to be transferred to the wireless communication device. Themetadata determined to be more relevant can be placed into the mediametadata file with the corresponding segment being removed from themetadata file. In addition, additional metadata can be inserted into themetadata file indicating the source from which the replacing metadata isderived.

In an embodiment, a PC may contain a unified media library. The unifiedmedia library includes metadata for many or all media files accessiblefrom one or many sources. The metadata is collected and stored by one ormore applications of the PC that monitor and collect metadata asartifacts of activities by media applications that manage the mediafiles. The acquisition and storage of metadata can include activities ofthe users of the PC, where the activities are related to characteristicsof the media files. For example, when a site on the Internet is accessedand music is played in a streaming mode on the PC, the identity of themusic, the name of the artist, the length of the music track, theidentity of the website may be collected and stored in a storage mediumaccessible by the PC. If the same music is accessed from the samewebsite, this information can be captured and the two occurrences can berelated as being the same music with a high level of confidence. If thesame music is accessed from another website, the collected data will bedifferent, but using information that is common to both, the twoinstances of the music can be identified as being the same with adifferent level of confidence. In addition, the total informationregarding a media file stored by the PC can include different metadatafrom different sources. For example, with a music file of a song storedin a iTunes® library on the PC and album art for the song provided froma source other than the iTunes® library, the unified media library caninclude the album art as associated with the song along with theidentification of the sources of this metadata. The acquisition,storage, and analysis of metadata is not limited to metadata for musicfiles, but may include video files, multimedia files, pictures files,document files, and other media related files.

In various embodiments, one or more media files managed by a PC are tobe transferred to a mobile device, such as but not limited to, a mobilewireless communication device. The initiation of the transfer may begenerated using various mechanisms. A user at a user interface of the PCmay select transfer of the files. The transfer can begin directly fromthe user selecting a download activity of the media file or a syncactivity to synchronize a set of media files on the PC as media files onthe wireless communication device. The transfer can begin sometime afterthe user selection, based on such factors as a determination by anapplication of the PC that the wireless communication device hascapacity to receive the media files, determination by an application ofthe PC has there is a communication path to the wireless communicationdevice that has capacity to transfer the media files, and/or adetermination by an application of the PC has there is no otherrestriction on transferring the media files from the PC to the wirelesscommunication device. Other criteria may be used to transfer the files.

In addition, a user of the mobile device may desire to browse through alist of media files to play on the user's mobile device. With the mobiledevice having a screen display, information about the media files on themobile device can be presented to the user on the screen display invarious formats. The displayed information regarding media files on themobile device or accessible to the mobile device may include, for eachmedia file, the name of the media art, the artist, a time lengthassociated with the media art, artwork work associated with the mediaart. For a selection of music media, the displayed information caninclude, without limitation, the name of a song, the person of groupperforming the song, the track length for playing the song, album art ofan album in which the song is a part of the album. For a selection ofvideo media, the displayed information can include, without limitation,the name of a movie, primary individuals performing in the movie, thetrack length for playing the movie, marquee art associated withadvertising the movie. Other media, which can be played on the mobiledevice with characteristic information regarding a selected media orselection of media presented on the screen display, include, but are notlimited to, music videos, television shows, user interactiveapplications, audio books, podcasts, games, and other mediapresentations. The information can include data for applications on themobile device to manage media files on the mobile device, to managemedia sync with a PC, and/or to manage acquisition of media files fromother sources external to the mobile device. The information can bestored in the mobile device as metadata associated with the media filesin a variety of formats for management by applications on the mobiledevice.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a stream builder 500 to modify ametadata file for transfer, according to various embodiments. Intransferring a metadata file associated with media files, the PCtransfers the file in a format that can be used by the mobile devicereceiving the file. A PC may contain instrumentality to generatemultiple different formats to satisfy transfer protocols with differentmobile devices. The instrumentality includes the rules for formattingthe information that can be read by the mobile device. Upon selection ofa media file for transfer, a path to a metadata storage location isdetermined corresponding to the selected media file. The metadata in themetadata storage 502 is output to a buffer 505 according to the fileformat corresponding to the rules for transferring a media file andassociated metadata to the specified mobile device. The mobile devicecan be specified in the establishment of a communication link betweenthe PC and the mobile device and/or the mobile device can be specifiedin the activities of a user on the PC that can be used for media sync.

An extractor 510, which reads the information in buffer 505 inequivalently the same manner as an application on the specified mobiledevice that reads the metadata, writes the desired metadata in outputbuffer 515 to be transferred to the specified mobile device. Duringwriting to output buffer 515, metadata can be injected into the metadatafile to be transferred to the specified mobile device. Variousmechanisms may be used to inject metadata to alter the data in buffer505 to realize the data in output buffer 515. For example, extractor 510may perform the data injection as data flows from buffer 505 to outputbuffer 515. Data injection may include no modification by extractor 510.The definition of the stream builder can be done without loading thestreams into a buffer and can combine source information from variousbuffers in memory, files, and network streams. In various embodiments,the transfer of the streams is batched over several stream buildersallowing use of shared buffer resources and scheduling of IO operationsfor efficient usage of computing resources such as transfer bandwidth,CPU time, threads and persistent disk space.

If selection of media art, such a song, is from a media library thatdoes not include all the information that is anticipated by thereceiving mobile device, extractor 510 can inject information inaccordance with the file transfer rules. If the missing information isin another media library or is associated with a source other than thesource providing the media file, extractor 510 can inject the metadata.For example, if a selected song is in an iTunes® library on the PCwithout associated album artwork, extractor 510 can inject the albumartwork, such as a jpeg file, that is stored in the PC associated withthe song in a WMP® library. Injection of the album artwork from adifferent source may be based on confidence levels that the selectedsong is substantially the same and that the selected album artworkcorresponds to the selected song. Alternatively, an application on thePC can use confidence levels regarding the relationship of the selectedsong and associated album from different sources and the quality of thealbum art from the different sources, to substitute album artwork forthe song from a source different than the source of the selected song.

With a file transferred to a mobile device, according to the set ofrules for transferal, as a string of bytes 1 to n, the information,whether the album artwork for the song or an indication of the absenceof the album artwork, can be located from bytes i to j. Extractor 510can remove the information and insert the album artwork in location i toj. If the insert album artwork requires a number of bytes that does notmatch the number of bytes from location i to j, information regardingthe change in byte size can be provided in header information of thefile transfer to the mobile device. Rather than perform a removeoperation, extractor 510 can write bytes 1 to (i−1) sent to buffer 505into output buffer 515, write the bytes being injected into the fileinto output buffer 515 starting at byte i following byte (i−1), andwrite the bytes (j+1) to n sent to buffer 505 in the file in outputbuffer 515 following the injected data. In addition to injecting thealbum artwork, other metadata regarding the album artwork such as sourceor sources associated with the album artwork, confidence levelsregarding these sources, and artifacts generated from injecting thealbum artwork. The injection and composition of the output stream may bethe result of any number of addition, exclusion, and replacementoperations, all defined in the stream builder.

Buffer 505 and output buffer 515 may be structured with sufficient sizeto accommodate the injection process. Buffer 505 and output buffer 515may be arranged as variable size buffers to contain additional bytes ofdata generated in the metadata injection process. The additionalinformation may include the start and end location in the file string ofthe injected information or the start location in the file string of theinjected information and the length of the injected data, and the sizeof the modified file. A fidelity level may be injected as metadata asthe file is being transferred that provides information regarding themedia file, such as a song being transferred, which may include, but isnot limited to, whether the media file is a sample of the media art andnot a complete copy of the media art and other information regarding thequality of the media art. The use of the sample may allow the user todecide whether or not the complete media art should be transferred. Thissample process allows for evaluation without using large amounts ofcapacity on the communication medium for transferal that may provide forsampling of a number of media art such as a large number of songs. Thissample process allows for evaluation to determine whether or not agreater set of media art, such as a collection of songs or collection ofmovies, should be acquired. Acquisition may be through purchase of theselected media art via an on-line store or purchase of a machinereadable medium such as a CD, DVD, or other such format for media art.

Transcoding is conversion of a media format to another media format suchas a digital-to-digital conversion from one format to another format. Ittypically may include decoding/decompressing original data to anintermediate format followed by re-encoding the intermediate format intoa target format. Transcoding may include a process to change assembledcode to function on a different platform or operating system.Transcoding provides a process of converting a media file or object fromone format to another. For example, transcoding may be used to convertamong video formats such as Beta, VHS (Video Home System), QuickTime,Video for Windows, MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), and other videoformats. Transcoding may be used to convert among audio formats such asway (Waveform audio format), au (Audio file format), mp3 (MPEG-1 AudioLayer 3), wma (Windows Media Audio), aiff (Audio Interchange FileFormat), and other audio formats. Transcoding may be used to convertamong multimedia container formats such as mp4, QuickTime, or othersimilar format, which are commonly used to store digital audio streams,digital video streams, and related data. Other media conversions mayinclude text and graphic files for use in mobile devices that may havesmall screen sizes, low memory, and low bandwidth rates. Transcoding mayprovide the encoding of files to a lower bit rate without changing mediaformats, a process that is also known as transrating. Transcodingprovides a mechanism for the PC to provide a format to a specific mobiledevice, according to the formats that the specific mobile device isconfigured to support. Transcoding may be an optional procedure, sincesome media content may be provided without transcoding.

In various embodiments, an application on an apparatus, similar to thestream builder of FIG. 5, can be realized to provide metadata injectionas one or more media files are being transferred to a mobile device. Theapplication may be arranged to acquire streams of information frommultiple sources and generate a file including a composition of thestreams that are placed in an order that can be read on anotherapparatus. The order of the composition of data streams may be definedunder one or more rule sets stored or determinable by both apparatus.

The length and locations of the various streams of the composition maybe provided to the receiving apparatus using various mechanisms. Thelength and location information may be provided in a header as part ofthe file containing the composition of streams, where the rulesregarding the header information may be stored in each apparatus. Thelength and location information may be provided in a separate file. Thelength and location information may be provided by the file formatcontaining the composition of streams including a section of the filethat includes a dictionary that defines the manner in which to read thefile.

Metadata injection during transfer of files may be used in variousapparatus. A PC may provide metadata injection in the transferal ofmedia files to mobile devices such as mobile wireless devices. The PCmay include instrumentality to operate as a wireless server with amobile wireless communication device. A mobile device may providemetadata injection in the transferal of media files or metadata filesrelated to a given set of media files to a personal computer, to mobiledevices through the PC, and/or directly to the other mobile devices.Such a mobile device may be realized as a mobile wireless communicationdevice. The various transferals may be conducted using a direct wiredlink such as provided by a USB connection or other such link, a Wi-Finetwork or other suck link, a large area wireless network, and othercommunication paths.

In various embodiments, metadata injection may be used to map metadataassociated with one of more media libraries on a PC to a mobile device.The mobile device may be mobile wireless communication device. The PCcan be configured to include a wireless server. The PC may include amedia sync engine and K media libraries, where each of the medialibraries have N_(i) collections of media files. The media sync enginemay include M collections of data and artifacts related to the N_(i)collections of the K media libraries that media engine can sync to amobile device. The media engine may be limited in the amount of datathat can be synced to the mobile device based on various criteria thatinclude the nature of the media files. Certain media files may berestricted from playing on devices other than the PC on which the mediafiles were acquired. In addition, based on various criteria, Pcollections of media files are selected for download to the mobiledevice. The selection of the P collections may depend on media filesize, capacity of available transport, settings of the mobile device,user preferences, and use restrictions on activities of the identifieduser registered to the mobile device. The identity of the registereduser of the mobile device may be determined on the establishment of acommunication link between the PC and the mobile device. Alternatively,in various embodiments, metadata injection may be used to map metadataassociated with one of more media libraries on a PC directly from themedia libraries to the mobile device. In various embodiments, the medialibraries may be external to the PC.

In various embodiments, a media metadata file is transferred from a PCto a wireless communication device that is associated in some mannerwith the PC. The media metadata file being transferred from the PC tothe wireless communication device may be a media library fileidentifying media files on the PC. In an embodiment, once transferredthe wireless communication device has the same media library file as thePC except that the media library file on the wireless communicationdevice may include additional information in the form of metadata thatis generated as an artifact of the transfer of the medial library filefrom the PC to the wireless communication device. The injection of theartifact may be viewed as stamp coding the metadata file to dynamicallymodify the metadata such that what is placed on the device is adifferent from than what was on the PC. The stamp coding of metadata caninclude an identification of the PC as the source of the transferredmedia metadata file.

In various embodiments, a UI for managing media files on the device andpending transfers is provided. The UI may include graphical indicatorsfor status (e.g., on device, on PC, etc) and/or actions (e.g., download,purchase, preview, email, play remotely). Some example UI screens from adevice are provided in FIGS. 6-11.

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-5 may be implemented as a desktopapplication to synchronize media content with a mobile wirelesscommunications device. The embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-5 may also allowa user to use a mobile wireless communications device to browse andsynchronize a library on a PC with a library on the mobile wirelesscommunications device.

In various embodiments, device configurations and operational methodsare provided for a user of a mobile wireless communications device toremotely view and/or manage their music home music libraries directlyfrom their mobile wireless communications device with the ability tosynchronize/transfer music through wired connectivity and/or wirelesslyand justifies them within their context of use. Such transfer may berealized in a personal computer (PC). Such transfer may be realized in awireless server in which the user and/or the mobile wirelesscommunications device are registered as being allowed to enter into suchtransfers. The wireless server may be configured in a personal computer.The mobile wireless communications device may be a handheld device suchas a cell phone-type device. The mobile wireless communications devicemay be a portable computer such as a lap-top computer. Suchconfigurations and operating structures provide a straight-forward userfriendly way, both in a user's mobile wireless communications device andin a personal computer of the user, for managing multimedia files, audiofiles, video files, and/or combinations thereof, belonging to a user orwhich the user is allowed to access.

In various embodiments, transfer/sync of multimedia files, audio files,video files, and/or combinations thereof between a computer (andassociated media managers of the computer) and a mobile wirelesscommunications device may be accomplished using a number of mechanisms.The transfer/sync between the mobile wireless communications device andthe wireless server maybe accomplished through a USB connection. Thetransfer/sync between the mobile wireless communications device and thewireless server maybe accomplished through a Wi-FI communicationsession. The transfer/sync between the mobile wireless communicationsdevice and the wireless server maybe accomplished over wide area network(WAN) such as a wireless network.

In various embodiments, a mobile wireless communications device isconfigured with hardware, software, and combinations thereof to viewoffline, from its associated PC or associated wireless server andoffline from the Internet, a library or libraries that may includemultimedia files, audio files, video files, photos, videos, podcasts,and/or combinations thereof in the mobile wireless communicationsdevice. Such libraries may include libraries of iTunes®, Windows MediaPlayer®, other music libraries, video libraries, and other multimedialibraries. The mobile wireless communications device may includeexecutable instructions allowing its user to view, edit, delete, andschedule multimedia, music, video, and/or combinations for sync betweenthe mobile wireless communications device and its associated personalcomputer or wireless server. All changes/requests/transfers may occurautomatically upon establishment of one of more of USB, Wi-Fi, or WANconnections to the associated personal computer or wireless server. Invarious embodiments, the personal computer may be configured withappropriate instrumentalities to operate as a wireless server. Thehardware and software of the mobile wireless communications device mayinclude a multimedia sync application having a remote management tool tomanage a user's libraries of the user's PC, such as but not limited tomusic from the user's iTunes® or Windows Media Player® (WMP), directlyfrom the mobile wireless communications device. Various embodimentsprovide functions to manage, play, and sync multimedia presentations,video, and/or music that bridge the gap between PC sync and remoteaccess to realize media management from a handheld wireless devicerather than limiting such management to a desktop.

In various embodiments, mobile wireless communications devices areconfigured to allow offline access to a user's entire PC music libraryand to allow a 2-way sync, including wireless, between the mobilewireless communications device and the target media manager on a user'sPC. For example, a mobile wireless communications device may beconfigured to schedule downloads and syncs of media avoiding limitationsassociated with streaming the media content directly to the handset. Themobile wireless communications device may be configured with a remotemanagement application and a wireless sync application, where each hasaccess (an optimized copy) of the user's media library directly from themobile wireless communications device. Access to this library may notrequire a network connection to an associated PC or a server on theInternet. The library may be arranged as a multimedia library, a musiclibrary, a video library, or a combination thereof. In an embodiment, anoptimized version of a user's music library may be contained on theuser's mobile wireless communications device allowing for offlineviewing and management such that only the optimized music library file(i.e. an “index”) is present on the user's mobile wirelesscommunications device, not the actual songs themselves. Any edits orrequests for download/sync will sync with the user's associated PC uponconnection via USB, WAN, or WLAN (wireless local area network). Newmedia content, such as new music content, that have been requested fordownload may be contained in a download “manager”/queue and may be sentto the user's device upon the next USB or Wi-Fi connection. The downloadmay be sent on the next connection in a wireless network to which thecomputer is coupled. In an embodiment, should the user choose, they canforce transfer/download of any item in the pending download queue over acellular network.

In various embodiments, a mobile wireless communications device may beconfigured with hardware and software that provide: simple ease of usefor the user, integration between the mobile wireless communicationsdevice and a desktop manager and/or a media sync application of awireless server configured in a personal computer, support of USB sync,WLAN sync, WAN sync, or sync using combinations thereof between a user'sPC and their mobile wireless communications device, integration withdifferent media players such as but not limited to iTunes® and WindowsMedia Player®, ability for a user to view their media libraries directlyfrom the mobile wireless communications device without a networkconnection for viewing via a small/optimized copy of the libraries,ability to view library content by album, artist, genre, playlists,ability to add music, such as but not limited to individual songs,albums, artists, playlists to a download manager/queue, ability totransfer/synchronize media in the download queue with the user's mobilewireless communications device upon next USB or Wi-Fi connection totheir associated PC or associated PCs, and a 2-way sync with medialibraries on the users home PC. A 2-way allows for activity on a mobilewireless communications device to be conducted in a manner similar tothe activity of the PC. For example, if a user deletes music orcreates/edits a playlist from their mobile wireless communicationsdevice, the data can be transmitted wired and/or wirelessly, and thesechanges reflected in the media libraries on the user's associated PC,which may include iTunes® and WMP among others. Further, if a userdeletes music or creates/edits a playlist from their associated PC viaone or more libraries on the PC, the data can be transmitted wiredand/or wirelessly, and these changes reflected on the mobile wirelesscommunications device. For example, new media content that have beenrequested for download may be contained in a download manager/queue andmay be sent to the user's mobile wireless communications device upon thenext USB, Wi-Fi, or wireless network connection. Should the user choosethey can force transfer/download any item in the pending download queueover a cellular network.

In various embodiments, a mobile wireless communications device may beconfigured to operate with any operating system that may be used in acellular device. The mobile wireless communications device may beconfigured with access to media functions with external controls tovirtually provide for unlimited storage for a user's media, withindependence from the PC desktop to manage all user media needs directlyfrom their portable wireless device, with an open marketplace todiscover/acquire music directly from a portable wireless device, withautomatic updates/sync of activity conducted on a portable wirelessdevice, with ability to play music on a portable wireless device withother devices such as a car, a home stereo, or other such device, withremote access from the user's mobile wireless communications device toaccess to their PC library of music and other media.

In various embodiments, a media wireless sync feature may be installedon a PC with installation of an associated wireless server, asillustrated in FIG. 6. The installation may be realized using a USBconnection. The installation may be realized initiated using a USBconnection and completed over an Internet connection. The installationmay be realized using a Wi-Fi connection. The installation may berealized initiated using a Wi-Fi connection and completed over anInternet connection. After completion of the installation of the mediawireless sync feature, a message indicating that the media wirelessfeatures/functionality are enabled may be provided to the user via themobile wireless communications device, the PC, and/or both.

The media sync application of the mobile wireless communications devicemay support multiple mobile wireless communications device/users withina home, based on a registration, for example based on a personalidentification (PIN). The libraries and the sync to these libraries maybe partitioned among the various users of the PC. For example, oneperson may choose to sync music with one library such as iTunes®,another person may choose to sync with another library such as WindowsMedia Player®, and a third person may choose to sync with bothlibraries. The user interface of the wireless server on the PC may allowfor dynamic selection of supported media managers as well as rememberthe last media manager (store the identity of the last media manager orlast several media managers) to which a specific mobile wirelesscommunications device synchronized with it and to remember preferencesassociated with the synchronization. In an embodiment, a file may bespecified not to be transferred to the mobile wireless communicationsdevice, unless the file is supported by the mobile wirelesscommunications device. Users may be made aware of this through a graphicuser interface, if a specific file or file type has been identified asnot being selectable for sync. For example, music files that are not tobe synced may be shown using an icon or other indicator of a lockcondition, when a user is viewing their music library from the mobilewireless communications device.

From the user's mobile wireless communications device, the user mayobserve the status of connectivity to their home PC via a wirelessserver on the home PC. This view can enable the user to determine ifthey are able to sync and/or download content via Wi-Fi, WAN, or otherconnection. FIG. 7 illustrates a non-limiting example of a userinterface showing connectivity. A media sync application provides a userwith an ability to view (offline) either a media library directly from amobile wireless communications device allowing them to view, edit,delete, and schedule music for sync. All changes/requests/musictransfers can occur upon a USB, Wi-Fi, or WAN connection to their homePC. With a wireless server on a home PC offline, an error message may begenerated to indicate the status of the wireless server when attemptingto force a transfer or download via a network connection.

An optimized version of a user's music library contained by a library inthe user's PC may be contained on the user's device allowing for offlineviewing and management. The optimized media library file may be arrangedas an index on the user's mobile wireless communications device. Mediafiled in the mobile wireless communications device may be stored in themobile wireless communications device separate from the optimized medialibrary file. During setup (and at any time) of the desktop media syncapplication, users can select which media manager or managers that theywould like configured for remote management and wireless sync.

From a user's mobile wireless communications device, a user may able toenter the total music library or individual libraries and sort by allsongs (name), artist, album, and music genre. The user may also be ableto view by all playlists, standard and smart (automatic) as well asthose contained in folders. When viewing a playlist from the mobilewireless communications device, users also may able to view/sort by allsongs (name), artist, album, and music genre. Viewing and sorting is notlimited to music but may be applied to photos, video, and othermultimedia presentations. With the optimized music library file as anindex present on the users mobile wireless communications device, andnot all the actual songs themselves contained within the library, theoptimized library may be sufficiently small allowing the library to bestored on the internal memory of the user's mobile wirelesscommunications device. In various embodiments, swapping memory cardsdoes not disable remote management.

In various embodiments, the optimized media library file on the user'smobile wireless communications device may be refreshed and kept in syncwith the media libraries on the user's PC. This sync may provideautomatic updating so that the most up to date view of the media libraryaccessible to the PC is available to the user from their mobile wirelesscommunications device. An updated/synchronized copy of the media librarymay be transferred to the user's mobile wireless communications deviceupon the next USB/WLAN/WAN connection to the desktop music syncapplication.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a user interface when accessing a home musiclibrary. The user interface is not limited to a home music library butmay be libraries of other multimedia presentations. As shown, the userinterface provides access and management of a user's music library, forexample a user's iTunes® or WMP music library, that is easy to use,intuitive, and be structured in such a way that it allows users toeasily view their music libraries directly from the music application onthe mobile wireless communications device.

In viewing their home media library from the mobile wirelesscommunications device, the view may be provided in a manner that itsimilar to how the media library is displayed on the local PC. FIG. 9illustrates an example of viewing a media library that is easy to use,intuitive, and structured in such a way that it allows users to easilyview their media library directly from the media application on themobile wireless communications device. The view may also provide a viewof media that is on their mobile wireless communications device vs. whatis not on the mobile wireless communications device with respect to whatis in the home libraries. The view may also provide a view of media thathas been added to the media download manager as pending downloads thatwill be transferred/synchronized with their device upon the next USBsync, WLAN sync, or WAN sync with the mobile wireless communicationsdevice. The user may also be provided with an indication of the totalamount of memory corresponding to media on their mobile wirelesscommunications device including free/available memory, media at anassociated PC such as a home PC, and media in the download managerpending download. The media may be further presented in variouscategories such as music, video, and other multimedia presentations.

In various embodiments, when a user views their home music library, itmay be similar to how they view the media local to their mobile wirelesscommunications device to edit the home media library. Users may be ableto edit their home music library from a remote management applicationwith a wireless sync feature allowing them to delete media, such asmusic, on a selected basis and/or edit playlists. For example, theselected basis allows for editing music based on individual songs,albums, artists, genres, or playlists. For example, using edit playlistsas a basis allows for adding and/or removing songs contained in one ormore playlists. These edits may sync with the users PC and thecorresponding media manger library or libraries upon the nextUSB/WLAN/WAN connection to the desktop media sync application on theirhome PC. Delete actions may be accompanied by a prompt inquiring as towhether or not the user would like to delete the item from the specifiedlibrary on the mobile wireless communications device only (keep file oncomputer) or from the specified library on the associated computer aswell.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a user interface with respect to addingmusic to the download manager. While viewing a user's home musiclibrary, the user may add the following to a download music manager aspending downloads: individual songs, individual albums, individualartists (all songs by an individual artist), individual genres (allsongs contained in a single genre), entire playlists, and othercategories for arranging music. Additions are not limited to music, butapply to other multimedia presentations. As an example, this additionfeature can be shown as a menu item called “sync with mobile wirelesscommunications device” or “add to downloads” when any of the abovecategories is highlighted. This may be similar to how adding items localto a mobile wireless communications device is handled with respect toplaylists local to the mobile wireless communications device. Users maybe able to view all items that are currently “pending sync/download.” Aremote media access implementation may notify a user if they areattempting to schedule/sync content whose total is larger than thedevice's available/free memory (external plus internal). The user may benotified/prompted on their device of the total content they areattempting to sync (i.e. what is in the media download manager or“pending downloads” queue) and the available space on the mobilewireless communications device and be instructed to remove content fromthe sync list or device.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a user interface for viewing a downloadmanager. This view provides users with the ability to view the mediadownload manager for pending downloads directly from the media homescreen of the mobile wireless communications device media player. Forexample, music that has been requested for download (added to thepending downloads/queue) can be delivered to the mobile wirelesscommunications device upon the next USB, Wi-Fi, or WAN connection.Viewing the items in the pending downloads list may be similar toviewing music on a users mobile wireless communications device and canbe sortable (with totals next to each in brackets) by all songs, album,artist, genre, playlists, and other categories.

A user may be provided with a view that indicates in a straight forwardmanner the total amount of memory corresponding to individual items inthe download manager and to total items in the download manager. Thefollowing options may be available to the user when viewing the contentsof the download manager: (1) delete (i.e. remove items from the downloadmanager), which may include an item no longer being requested fortransfer/sync with the device, and (2) download now, which allows formanual force transfer of media via a WAN. Users may be prompted thatthis may result in cellular data charges as per their existing mobilewireless communications device data plan. Other options may be provided.

FIG. 12 depicts a diagram of an embodiment of a system 1200 having acontroller 1205 and a memory system 1225. System 1200 also includeselectronic apparatus 1235 and a bus 1215, where bus 1215 provideselectrical conductivity among the components of system 1200. In anembodiment, bus 1215 includes an address bus, a data bus, and a controlbus, each independently configured. In an alternative embodiment, bus1215 uses common conductive lines for providing one or more of address,data, or control, the use of which is regulated by controller 1205. Bus1215 may be realized as multiple busses. In an embodiment, electronicapparatus 1235 is additional memory system configured in a mannersimilar to memory system 1225. In an embodiment, additional peripheraldevice or devices 1245 are coupled to bus 1215. In an embodiment,peripheral devices 1245 include displays, additional storage memorysystem, and/or other control devices that may operate in conjunctionwith controller 1205 and/or memory system 1225. In an embodiment,controller 1205 is a processor.

Controller 1205 and memory system 1225 can be arranged to manage mediacontent and associated information on system 1200. In an embodiment,system 1200 is arranged as a PC. The PC may include instrumentalitydistributed throughout the PC to operate as a wireless server. System1200 arranged as a PC can operate according to any of the variousembodiments discussed herein to manage media content and associatedinformation within the PC and/or in conjunction with one or more mobiledevices such as mobile wireless communications devices.

In an embodiment, system 1200 is arranged as a mobile device. The mobiledevice may be a mobile wireless communications device. System 1200arranged as a mobile device can operate according to any of the variousembodiments discussed herein to manage media content and associatedinformation within the mobile device, and/or in conjunction with a PC orother apparatus having software and/or hardware to manage media content.

Various embodiments or combination of embodiments for apparatus andmethods for a system, such as a PC, to manage media content, asdescribed herein, can be realized in hardware implementations, softwareimplementations, and combinations of hardware and softwareimplementations. These implementations may include a machine-readablemedium having machine-executable instructions, such as acomputer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions, foroperating the system in a relationship with one or more mobile devicessuch that media content and associated information is managed betweenthe system and the mobile device. The communications of the system witha mobile wireless communications device can be conducted on a securedbasis. The machine-readable medium is not limited to any one type ofmedium.

Various embodiments or combination of embodiments for apparatus andmethods for a mobile device, such as a mobile wireless communicationsdevice, as described herein, can be realized in hardwareimplementations, software implementations, and combinations of hardwareand software implementations. These implementations may include amachine-readable medium having machine-executable instructions, such asa computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions, foroperating the mobile device to manage its media content and associatedinformation within the mobile device, in conjunction with a system, suchas a PC, and/or with respect to other mobile devices. The communicationsbetween a mobile wireless communications device and the system can beconducted on a secured basis. The machine-readable medium is not limitedto any one type of medium.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the artthat any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose maybe substituted for the specific embodiments shown. It is to beunderstood that the above description is intended to be illustrative,and not restrictive, and that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description. Combinations of the aboveembodiments and other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill inthe art upon studying the above description.

1-25. (canceled)
 26. A wireless server comprising: a metadata storageconfigured to store metadata files associated with media files; a bufferconfigured to acquire from the metadata storage a metadata filesassociated with one or more files identified for transfer to a wirelessdevice; an output buffer configured to store modified files to betransferred to the wireless device; and an extractor configured tomodify metadata in the metadata files in the buffer and write themodified metadata files into the output buffer, wherein the extractormodifies the metadata in the metadata files by injecting additional datainto the metadata files and the injecting additional data includesinjecting policy parameters and user settings associated with the one ormore media files into the metadata files.
 27. The wireless server ofclaim 26, wherein the extractor is further configured to modify themetadata in the metadata files by injecting album art associated withthe one or more media files into the metadata files.
 28. The wirelessserver of claim 26, wherein the extractor is further configured tomodify the metadata in the metadata files by injecting artifactsindicative of a source of the transfer into the metadata files.
 29. Thewireless server of claim 26, wherein the extractor is further configuredto modify the metadata in the metadata files by injecting viewinglimitations associated with the one or more media files into themetadata files.
 30. The wireless server of claim 26, further comprising:a communication link configured to transfer the modified metadata filesin the output buffer together with the one or more media files to thewireless device.
 31. The wireless server of claim 26, wherein theextractor is configured to modify the metadata in the metadata filesduring a transfer of the metadata files from the wireless server to thewireless device.
 32. The wireless service of claim 26, wherein theextractor is configured to modify the metadata in the metadata filesduring a synchronization of the wireless device with the wirelessserver.
 33. A method of modifying metadata files on a wireless servercomprising: outputting metadata files associated with one or more mediafiles identified for transfer to a wireless device from a metadatastorage to a buffer; modifying metadata in the metadata files in thebuffer by injecting additional data into the metadata files, wherein theinjecting additional data into the metadata files includes injectingpolicy parameters and user settings associated with the one or moremedia files into the metadata files; and writing the modified metadatafiles into an output buffer to be transferred to the wireless device.34. The method of claim 33, further comprising: transferring themodified metadata files from the output buffer to the wireless devicetogether with the one or more media files.
 35. The method of claim 33,wherein modifying metadata in the metadata files further includesinjecting album art associated with the one or more media files, sourceor sources associated with the album artwork, confidence levelsregarding these sources, and artifacts generated from injecting thealbum artwork.
 36. The method of claim 33, wherein modifying metadata inthe metadata files further includes injecting artifacts indicative of asource of the transfer.
 37. The method of claim 33, wherein modifyingmetadata in the metadata files further includes injecting viewinglimitations associated with the one or more media files.
 38. The methodof claim 33, wherein modifying metadata in the metadata files comprisesmodifying the metadata in the metadata files during a transfer of themetadata files from the wireless server to the wireless device.
 39. Themethod of claim 33, wherein modifying metadata in the metadata filescomprises modifying the metadata in the metadata files during asynchronization of the wireless device with the wireless server.